50 books...
22) Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
I wish that I could read Russian, so that I might be able to give a fair review of this one. Lukyaneko presents us with a Moscow inhabited by noraml people (who are none of our concern in this journey), and Others - those with some sort of mystical bent, be it vampires, werewolves, magicians or what have you. We follow Anton, a not-so-powerful member of the Night Watch - the group of Others dedicated to the Light, whose job it is to protect people from the Dark.
There is a twist, of course: the Night Watch has its counterpart, the Day Watch, and there has been a treaty signed by both Light and Dark which hampers each sides' ability to truly function. Each side has its own way of attempting to manipulate this, and Anton is often the pawn of these "games".
I found the prose rather clunky throughout, but I cannot judge whether this is the fault of the original author, or of the translator. This became particualrly apparent when the protagonist slips on his Walkman and starts to listen to songs, the lyrics transcribed in the story. It is obvious that the lyrics are meant to be meaningful to the situation, but they seem to be translated quite literally, which destroys the flow of them (and, I suspect, some of the meaning). And there is a sadness: there is no wonder in this world. Anton is young, but not so young as to be new - for him, everything seems to be "old hat". He comes off as somewhat jaded, and I found it difficult to care for him. I was much more interested in some fo the side characters, but they were all superficial caracatures: the powerful (female) shapeshifter who is known for her combat skills, the older operative who has Seen It All and dispenses Cryptic Nuggests of Wisdom, the battling "bosses" who manipulate all around them with not a care for who they might affect, the Innocent Kid held hostage...
I don't know whether I'll bother with the second outing "Day Watch". It isn't high on my reading list. I would like to see some of the side characters explored, as some of them had hints of an interesting past.
Still... I wish I knew Russian.
I wish that I could read Russian, so that I might be able to give a fair review of this one. Lukyaneko presents us with a Moscow inhabited by noraml people (who are none of our concern in this journey), and Others - those with some sort of mystical bent, be it vampires, werewolves, magicians or what have you. We follow Anton, a not-so-powerful member of the Night Watch - the group of Others dedicated to the Light, whose job it is to protect people from the Dark.
There is a twist, of course: the Night Watch has its counterpart, the Day Watch, and there has been a treaty signed by both Light and Dark which hampers each sides' ability to truly function. Each side has its own way of attempting to manipulate this, and Anton is often the pawn of these "games".
I found the prose rather clunky throughout, but I cannot judge whether this is the fault of the original author, or of the translator. This became particualrly apparent when the protagonist slips on his Walkman and starts to listen to songs, the lyrics transcribed in the story. It is obvious that the lyrics are meant to be meaningful to the situation, but they seem to be translated quite literally, which destroys the flow of them (and, I suspect, some of the meaning). And there is a sadness: there is no wonder in this world. Anton is young, but not so young as to be new - for him, everything seems to be "old hat". He comes off as somewhat jaded, and I found it difficult to care for him. I was much more interested in some fo the side characters, but they were all superficial caracatures: the powerful (female) shapeshifter who is known for her combat skills, the older operative who has Seen It All and dispenses Cryptic Nuggests of Wisdom, the battling "bosses" who manipulate all around them with not a care for who they might affect, the Innocent Kid held hostage...
I don't know whether I'll bother with the second outing "Day Watch". It isn't high on my reading list. I would like to see some of the side characters explored, as some of them had hints of an interesting past.
Still... I wish I knew Russian.